LA Lakers

Question: are the Lakers in trouble?
Yes 100 times yes. Not only do they not have Steve nash but they're playing like it too. 13 assists last night in LOSS to the Knicks. Now the Knicks are a solid team with a fairly injury free roster. But Steve Nash is not Chris Paul or Derron Williams. He's not gonna come back and they're gonna go worse to first just like that. And yes the Lakers are the worse(they lost to the Wizards). Anyway the Lakers problem is their offense and their defense isn't great either. First off it seems as though Howard doesn't know anything about what he's suppose to be doing in the offense. Secondly Gasol only seems to play hard if his brother is next to him but if it's Kobe Gasol just leaves. And finally previously mentioned Kobe. There's no doubt he wanted Phil Jackson to come coach again and Kobe's dissatisfied with his new head coach. But that's not the main reason. The Lakers are now 1-11 when Kobe scores more than 30. Coincidental probably not. All I know is I wasnt sure if it was time to panic for LA but after the past week. Now is the time.

Venezuelan government says Hugo Chavez suffered complications from surgery, recovering

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez suffered complications during his cancer surgery in Cuba but is recovering.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas says Chavez suffered "bleeding" that required, as he put it, "corrective measures."

He said on Thursday that Chavez was recovering favourably two days after the operation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelan-government-says-hugo-chavez-suffered-complications-surgery-181310168.html

2012 nfl draft picks andrew luck andrew luck trent richardson robert griffin iii dontari poe space shuttle nyc

Probe into radio blackout during tunnel alert | Otago Daily Times ...

Transpower will investigate why five contractors, who were at the centre of an emergency in an Auckland tunnel last night, were not able to radio back to their employers for three hours.

The Transpower staff had been carrying out maintenance in Auckland and were to report back about 7.30pm but failed to do so.

They were not found until 10.45pm when firefighters entered a substation tunnel on Nuffield St in Newmarket.

Part of the street was cordoned off as fire crews - some with breathing apparatus - from around the city gathered.

Ambulances were also on standby.

The 3km tunnel ends at Hobson St in the city, where Fire Service staff were also on standby.

The contractors would normally check-in at 30-minute intervals.

Transpower chief executive Patrick Strange told Radio New Zealand that the tunnel was very dry and inert so controllers suspected there had been a communication failure, but had to assume the worse.

"They should have realised, but we'll look into all of that because it requires a positive two-way communication," Mr Strange said.

"But something's happened obviously which means the [communications] failed, we can't wait around to assume the [communications] failed. We get everyone here just in case."

It is understood that Mines Rescue staff from Huntly, who were among the personnel involved in the aftermath of the Pike River tragedy, were on standby to assist.

?

Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/239191/probe-radio-blackout-during-tunnel-alert

wii u wii u American Music Awards turkey brine WWE Imessage Not Working mc hammer

Will Brody Die? Is Carrie the Mole? Is It All a Dream?

Damian Lewis as Nicholas "Nick" Brody in Homeland's season finale.

Photo by Kent Smith/Showtime.

One critic likened Season 2 of Homeland to an extended game of Mad Libs, so implausible were some of its plot twists. As the final episode approaches, we asked Slate writers and the folks who took part in the Homeland TV Club to offer their predictions for what will go down Sunday night. We also plucked a couple of smart suggestions from the Internet.

Quinn kills Brody, and he and Estes exchange Brody?s body for Abu Nazir?s body. Then they dump it out at sea. That?s the body we saw in the ?next week on Homeland? trailer. Saul tips off Carrie, but too late to save Brody, and now they have no hard evidence. She is horrified and heartbroken and vows to prove what happened so she can bring down Quinn and Estes. But Saul is discredited and exiled and Carrie is in some sort of box, too. The problem with this theory is that it means no more Damian Lewis playing Nicholas Brody in Season 3, which would be a crying shame.? Emily Bazelon

I predict that all the emphasis on the romance between Carrie and Brody (which has been driving some of us nuts) is a masterful sleight of hand by the writers. Carrie is the only person alive who knows that Brody killed the vice president. And Brody could barely play off his feelings about the death of Abu Nazir in front of his own family. Brody is using his alleged feelings for Carrie to lull her into a false sense of security, but actually he?s unhinged and she?s in great danger. Will Quinn save her? I might be wrong, but I have to believe it. Because otherwise, the show is a second-rate soap opera based on a completely unbelievable affair. ?Rachael Larimore

Brody needs to die, but Carrie Mathison needs, as Roya Hammad put it to her, "someone who takes over your life, pulls you in, gets you to do things you would normally never do." So my bet: Peter Quinn manages to take out Brody in the finale. Next season, Saul and Carrie work together to prove that Quinn, David Estes, and?Dar Adul are in it together, if only so I can get my prescription dose of F. Murray Abraham. And Quinn and Carrie do some??Stage 5?delusional getting laid? of their own. ?Alyssa Rosenberg

Quinn will follow orders and kill Brody, only to be burned by Estes and Dar Adul. Carrie will realize that Saul has an agenda of his own?suspects with valuable information die when he?s around. Quinn and Carrie?when they?re not screaming at each other or screwing?will spend Season 3 trying to figure out who Saul is really working for. ?June Thomas

I continue to think the season is going to wind its way around to Carrie having to kill Brody, then discovering she?s having his child. ?The AV Club?s Todd VanDerWerff (in his take on Episode 211)

I have a sinking feeling that Season 2's finale will wrap up with Brody dead?though not at the hands of gorgeous Peter Quinn, who I envision standing down out of compassion for Carrie. Maybe Estes himself will pull the trigger, as Saul and Carrie burst into the room. When word gets out, Estes will retire in disgrace, and Saul will reconcile with his wife and open a waffle restaurant. The last we see of Claire Danes will be a shot of her bent over Brody's body, making the Cry Face To End All Cry Faces. ?Katy Waldman

Honestly, I have not the foggiest idea. It has gone so far off into the realm of preposterousness that they could do anything. It will probably end with Brody?a trained sniper, remember??killing Dar Adul, as Dar Adul prepares to murder Carrie and Saul. ?David Plotz

Brody becomes the new No. 1, replacing Abu Nazir. He never had divided loyalties and has been working for the terrorists all along. He has been carefully setting up Carrie and is going to make it look like she is the mole. ?Emily Yoffe

Could the big bad be a character you never thought of?

If Nazir had been really smart, he would have spent years cultivating those close to Brody and Walker, knowing they would need a minder when they got back to the States, someone to keep Brody from connecting with his family ... aka Mike. ?Chad Briggs

Carrie is the mole. That?s what Estes says, anyway, creating a convincing narrative: Carrie and Brody became terrorist sympathizers. Carrie and Brody are framed for Walden?s death. Carrie?s history of mental illness?manifested in erratic behavior, insubordination, and suspension?plays in. Her obsession with Nazir evolved into admiration. Estes says she was a complicit prisoner.

Estes leaks Brody?s video and other evidence that golden boy Brody is a conspirator. Brody?s family doesn?t know any better. The only person who knows otherwise is Saul, but Estes saw to it that he was discredited.

Like Emily Yoffe's Dear Prudence Column on Facebook:

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=fba35172dd26a48f5270d93821960d70

cadillac ats bain capital marines urinating haley barbour peoples choice awards 2012 ford recalls robert kardashian

Combating accidental clicks in mobile ads

Ads on smartphones are effective, but many of us have at some point clicked on an ad by accident, which ultimately is a bad experience for the user, the publisher, and the advertiser who pays for clicks that may not be valuable. Our team has been analyzing the types of ad formats where accidental clicks are more likely to occur due to ad layout and placement, and are constantly looking at ways that we can combat them. Today, we’re introducing confirmed clicks into all in-app image ad banners on smartphones, which reduces accidental clicks by prompting the user to confirm that they intended to click on the ad.

We find that most accidental clicks on in-app image ads happen at the outer edge of the ad unit, likely when you’re trying to click or scroll to nearby content. Now if you click on the outer border of the ad, we’ll prompt you to verify that you actually meant to click on the ad to learn more.

This builds on our previous efforts with confirmed clicks for text ad banners on smartphones, which we introduced a few years ago. In the text ad format, tapping on the blue arrow button takes you to the advertiser’s ad destination, whereas tapping anywhere else in the ad prompts you to confirm your click.

By expanding confirmed clicks to in-app image ad banners, we’re now making this improved user experience consistent across the vast majority of the ads that we serve in mobile apps. In our initial tests, we found that confirmed clicks notably improve mobile conversion rates, with a slight decrease in clickthrough rate as accidental clicks are avoided.

This is only the beginning. As devices continue to converge there will be new challenges in the fight against what many have called the ‘fat finger’ problem. But implementing confirmed clicks is an important step that we think will benefit users, advertisers, publishers, and the mobile ecosystem overall, and we’ll continue to look for ways to improve mobile ads for everyone.

Posted by Allen Huang, Product Manager, Mobile Display Ads

Easily convert Flash ads to HTML5 in AdWords, now for iPad

In this increasingly multi-screen world, it’s important for marketers to easily run ads that reach people on different devices. But with different specs and standards across platforms, this can currently be difficult, especially for marketers who’ve invested in engaging rich media ad units. Since Flash isn’t supported on many tablets, and building a new ad in HTML5 can be expensive and time-consuming, often marketers’ rich media ads aren’t able to run on tablets. To address this, we recently launched a new feature in AdWords that allows you to easily convert Flash ads to HTML5.

Advertisers can now generate an HTML5 version of a Flash image ad with the click of a button, right within the Image Ad upload flow in AdWords. Because HTML5 ads can appear on browsers and devices that are incompatible with Flash, running an HTML5 version of an image ad alongside the Flash version in AdWords extends reach across devices. In this initial release, these converted HTML5 ads will show only on iPads, though we hope to extend support to additional tablet and mobile devices in the coming months.  

This new AdWords feature is part of our ongoing effort to make mobile rich media advertising easier. It’s the reason we’ve created products like Rich Media Designs for Mobile and continue to innovate around mobile ad serving solutions using the DoubleClick platform.  With the addition of this latest tool, it is now easy for advertisers targeting the Google Display Network with Flash ads to expand their ad's reach without using any creative resources.

To learn more about converting Flash ads to HTML5 in AdWords, visit our Help Center.

Posted by: Ashley Jiang, Product Manager, Display Ads

Parties and underage drinking: Who's responsible when someone ...

When your college student is home for the holiday break, there are some things you should know about underage drinking, house parties and what happens when a kid gets hurt or causes harm to someone else after drinking at your house or a friend?s.

First of all, there are criminal penalties for the property owner or adult in charge, and Illinois is about to get stricter on the issue. A new law goes into effect on January 1 that makes it a Class A misdemeanor to allow underage drinking on your property. Jail time is possible. It becomes a Class 4 felony if someone suffers serious injury or death as a result of you allowing underage drinking on your property, which involves not only jail time but significant fines, as well.

In addition, there are potential civil penalties. If there is drinking or drug use at your home or on your property, and someone gets hurt, you can be sued. The injured person could be the minor who was drinking, such as an overdose at a party or an accident after leaving your property. Or, the injured person could be an innocent bystander. If a minor drinks at your house and then drives across town and causes an accident, anyone injured in that accident might have a case against you. The parents or family of the injured individual are often the ones who file the lawsuits. Damages (the amount they?re suing for) can be significant, including medical bills, future medical care, pain and suffering, attorneys fees, etc.

These lawsuits are based on what?s called ?social host liability.? It doesn?t exist in all states. In Illinois, the law is limited. It says that if you willfully supply alcohol to a minor, you can be sued for any resulting injuries. The law does not hold adults responsible for underage drinking on their property if they didn?t provide the alcohol, even if they knew about it. However, there are other ways a lawsuit can succeed in these situations.

You also can be sued under the ?voluntary undertaking? rule, which says that if you take steps to try and stop or prevent the underage drinking but someone gets hurt anyway, you can be held liable. So apparently, if you look the other way, you?re safe. But if you try to stop it and fail, you can be sued. I?m not saying it makes any sense, but that seems to be the law in Illinois. The bottom line is there is no way to absolutely protect yourself from a lawsuit because every situation is different and you don?t know how the facts are going to play out.

If you are a parent whose son or daughter has been injured after drinking at someone else?s house, know that there are laws in your favor, even if they are unclear. You can speak with an injury attorney about whether you have a case. If other parents failed to keep your child safe, they can be held responsible. Similarly, if you or a loved one are in an accident caused by an underage drunk driver, there may be an adult responsible who supplied the alcohol or allowed the minor to drink on their watch.

Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/chicagos-real-law-blog/2012/12/parties-and-underage-drinking-who%E2%80%99s-responsible-when-someone-gets-hurt/

jacksonville jaguars benjarvus green ellis shaka smart hungergames bagpipes aspirin aspirin